Ways Undefined
by arianna99
Summary: ChadxRyan slash. They didn't have a serious thing the first time they had a thing. Apparently, that was a mistake. Also, the not telling Troy thing seems to be working against them.
1. Chapter 1

They'd had a thing, the summer before senior year. It was kind of predictable; Chad left alone Troy and Ryan by Sharpay. They'd been thrown together in the goody-goody let's-all-dance-and-sing-together crap neither of them really believed in, and eventually, on a silent understanding based on eye-rolling, they escaped together.

"So tell me," Chad said, sitting on one of the hills surrounding the Springs, chewing on a long bit of grass, because he was just that manly. I chew on grass, grunt, grunt. And how he'd gotten the grass in the first place was beyond Ryan, seeing as the grass was cut to exactly one and a half inches.

Anyway. "So tell me," Chad said, "are you gay?"

"Huh," Ryan heard himself say. "You must be the first person to ask me that."

"Seriously?"

"Shar basically told me I was, and then told Mom and Dad. Everyone else kind assumes I am. Unless the thought never occurs to them."

Chad's eyebrow went up. "Seriously?" He asked again.

"Troy and Gabriella," Ryan said.

"Oh," Chad said. "I see your point." Brief pause. "Well, are you?"

"Yeah," Ryan said. "I though it didn't really matter at first, y'know, you love who you love, but every girl I've ever loved I loved so platonically you could write books about the sheer platonicness."

"And…" Chad was blushing a tiny bit, a springy curl falling over his eyes. "Guys?"

Of course Ryan wanted to know what this was about. But Chad was an okay guy. They'd known each other since elementary school, and maybe they hardly spoke, but that didn't mean they didn't know each other reasonably well. He could trust Chad not to go homophobic on him. "Well, guys I'm not so platonic about," Ryan said.

"Cool," Chad said, looking out across the hills.

"Why?" Ryan asked voice determinedly casual.

Chad shifted a little bit. "Um. I think I…might be."

Ryan grinned to himself. "Cool," he said. He liked the whole gaydar thing. Mentally, he was dancing and screaming, _I knew it. _It was probably best not to say that out loud, though, because Chad would freak.

Chad looked up at him and smiled back. "Yeah," he said. "Cool."

The next second, their lips were on collision course, as if some invisible force was pushing them towards each other unstoppably, and then their lips meshed together in a slow slide that felt so right Ryan didn't know what to do. His hand crawled around Chad's neck and tangled in those curls that he'd always had a secret thing for, and suddenly it didn't really matter whether he knew what to do or not.

They met up in the dance room, during Chad's break, and practiced the Salsa and the art of frenching, and in the evenings they hid at the Evan's house, because no one else was there, and went a lot further than frenching. That summer would always remain ingrained in Ryan's mind, inexorably linked with warm, dark skin touching his and the feel of Chad's lips on his neck, his chest, his cheek.

They weren't in love. Love was different. They were too young for love, too inexperienced. While that didn't seem to bother their classmates, Ryan and Chad had their eyes wide open, had plans for life the other didn't fit in to.

When senior year started, they split ways amicably. "Everyone knows you don't stay with the guy you're with in high school," Ryan said when Chad brought up the topic uncomfortably.

"Yeah," Chad said. "Plus, coming out to the basketball team would probly be a bit uncomfortable."

Ryan smirked. "Friends?"

"Friends," Chad said, gave him the lazy jock-on-vacation grin one last time, stole one last kiss and walked off.

It was okay. At their age they were supposed to do stuff like this, hook up and unhook randomly, not look for anything serious. Summer fling, don't mean a thing. And if Ryan felt a little pang watching Chad go, and it Chad wasn't sure if this was what he wanted, well, that was okay too.

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A Year and a Bit Later

-----------------

_To: __.com__, __, __.com__, __.com__, __.com__, __, __.__, __.com_

_From: __.com_

_Subject: Julliard FTW_

_Hi Everyone,_

_So we're here, in NYC, the big apple, blah-de-blah, and lemme tell you, it rocks. Julliard is like every theatre geek's wet dream come to life, there's dance halls and my roommate doesn't suck (although he does have a thing for Olivia Newton John, which is kinda scary), and Kels is currently off in heaven, playing with her latest song on a really cool piano, which is why she's not writing._

_(Sorry if this bugs you, Shar. You've got to tell me all about U of A. Also, I borrowed your dark blue eyeliner and I still have it…)_

_Will write more after my first day. So how's it going for you guys?_

_Ryan_

_-----  
_

_To: __.com_

_From: _

_Subject: Yo_

_Hey Dude,_

_It's great Julliard is working out so well for you. U of A is made of awesome. Well. My roomie's and ex-West High Knight, which is a bit weird, but it's cool. The basketball team rocks, too, and the other courses aren't bad. I finally picked other subjects I want to continue: English and Poli-Sci. Shut up._

_I suddenly find myself hanging out a lot with your sister, because besides her, Zeke's, like, the only person here I know, and let's face it, Zeke's always with Sharpay. So. Yeah. Stay cool._

_Chad_

_P.S.: Do I want to know what you're doing with Sharpay's eyeliner?_

_---------  
_

_To: _

_From: __.com_

_Subject: Who the hell puts Yo in the subject line??_

_And who the hell starts an email with "Hey Dude"??_

_Watch out for Shar for me, okay? I'm a bit worried about how she's dealing. She's not used to being self-sufficient. I know you don't want me to ask you this, but seriously, who else do I ask? Zeke? Fucking her does so not count as looking out for her. Fuck, while I'm at it, keep him off her. I don't want my sister being pressured into sleeping with someone._

_Julliard continues in its regiment of awesomeness. Broadway, here I come._

_Ryan_

_P.S.: Well, gee, Sherlock, what do you do with eyeliner?_

_-----------  
_

_To: __.com_

_From: _

_Subject: You got something against the word Yo?_

_I start emails with "Hey Dude", that's who!_

_Uh, dude, have you met Sharpay? No one can pressure her into anything. Unless they were offering it in exchange for a chance to play, like, Galinda on Broadway or something. Also, seeing as I'm pretty aware of what happened to your virginity, that's a bit hypocritical._

_I think I actually like Shakespeare._

_Chad_

_P.S.: Y'know, Sherlock and Watson were totally fucking._

_---------  
_

Ryan's first visit threw Chad off completely. Not in a bad way.

He and Zeke were in Sharpay's dorm when he came, and Sharpay was reading the riot act about a professor not giving her an A, and the two of them were listening with something approaching amusement.

Zeke's fascination with Sharpay had dimmed down a little, for two very good reasons: 1) He was now in a world populated by hot college babes, 2) He had realized that Sharpay would always want what she couldn't have.

As for Chad, he'd been getting along with Sharpay recently. She'd mellowed since East High, the Julliard disappointment, separation from her brother, and her college workload all combining to steady her a little. Only a little, she was still an egotistical airheaded bitch, but Chad could work with that. He wasn't the sort to take anyone's crap.

She was reaching her, "and what will Daddy say" moment in the How-Dare-He-Give-Me-A-B+-Speech, and topped it off with, "He'll be proud of me for standing up in what I believe in."

Chad had already passed the eye-rolling stage and was well on the way to direct criticism. He'd learned the best way to express that was in a language she understood, so he took up his best opera pose and wailed, "_our daughter's daughters will adore us_," at the top of his lungs.

She looked like she was about to pull an ice-queen on him when a familiar voice carried on: "_And they'll sing in grateful chorus…"_

Chad turned around to see Ryan standing in the doorway and hardly had time to contemplate the sudden swell of…something…in his chest and the blinding realization of how much he'd missed Ryan before they were turning back to Sharpay and finishing with a dramatic, "_Well done, Sister Suffragette!" _

Thankfully, Sharpay was too busy assaulting her brother to hit either of them, and Ryan was too busy being assaulted to notice Chad's face jump from surprise to Oh-My-God-I-Never-Got-Over-Him.

Once she'd released him, Ryan turned to Chad and they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before Chad pulled Ryan into a bear hug and they were both laughing.

Sharpay immediately proceeded to give Ryan the grand tour of the campus, as if it was the most important thing in the world, as if he hadn't grown up right next to the U of A campus.

Chad and Zeke tagged along, and while Zeke was fascinated with Sharpay's view of campus, Ryan and Chad had a steady whispered conversation that went something like this:

SHARPAY: This is the cafeteria. They don't have enough diet sodas, and the meatloaf…

CHAD (whispering): Is this weird?

RYAN: No, Why?

CHAD: Well, I'm friends with my ex's sister.

RYAN: Well when you put it like that…

CHAD: But we're cool?

RYAN: Yeah. Sure. So…how're Troy and Gabriella?

CHAD: Sickening. Kels?

RYAN: Oh, she's great. Written some great songs. I should send them sometime, your voice'd be great in one.

CHAD: I don't sing.

RYAN: Oh, riiight. You don't sing, except in musically and when you're annoying my sister and when you're entertaining the showerhead. You don't dance, except for when you do. You live in denial.

CHAD: Do not!

RYAN: Have you even told anyone you're gay?

CHAD: Uh. My mom.

RYAN: Seriously?

CHAD: Yeah. She…took it really well.

RYAN: Well…congrats. So…are you seeing someone?

CHAD: Uh. Well, more fucking than seeing, if you know what I mean.

RYAN: Sure. Like us back then.

CHAD: Nah, we were seeing each other.

RYAN: Really?

CHAD: Sure. I mean, we talked, too, and you taught me to dance, we even went bowling that one time.

RYAN (winces): Huh. Yeah, I guess.

CHAD: Are you seein' someone?

RYAN: Hm. Not…really. Y'know.

CHAD: Fuckbuddy, you mean.

RYAN: If you must be crude.

CHAD: I must.

SHARPAY: Ooh, and Ry, this is where I have theatre classes…

RYAN: Do you ever…want something lasting?

CHAD: A relationship?

RYAN: No, a cookie that will never go stale. Yes, a relationship.

CHAD: Heh. Yeah, course I do. But we're so young, y'know.

RYAN: Yeah. Yeah, I know.

CHAD: So about that cookie…

RYAN: Shut up.

CHAD: Good to have you back, Ry.

SHARPAY: LISTEN TO ME!!

The night Ryan left, Zeke, while baking apple pan dowdy for dinner (Chad would never be able to take care of himself. He'd just live off of Zeke's baked goods forever and ever and then he'd be so fat he'd die), said, casually, "So, were you ever going to tell me you're gay?"

Chad nearly dropped the plates he was carrying. "Sorry?" He asked, voice at least an octave too high.

"You. And your shocking lack of heterosexuality."

"Um. How d'you know?" Chad asked, sitting down carefully, in case the chair decided to blow up or his legs gave way. After the bombshell Zeke'd just dropped he wouldn't have been surprised at either. Well, a bit less at the latter, but that was a given.

"You and Ryan," Zeke said, pulling out the apple pan dowdy with ridiculous pink sparkly oven mitts Sharpay had once given him in exchange for a lifelong supply of chocolate cookies. "You were all over each other. Didn't take a genius."

Chad snorted, because, hello, irony. "Uh. That's not happening."

"Why not? He turn you down?"

That was a tiny bit insulting. "Nah," Chad said. "That…uh, ship has sailed."

"Seriously?" Zeke said.

"Yeah."

"When?"

Chad bit into the apple pan dowdy fiercely. Sadly, it helped abate his annoyance with Zeke. Carbs were one of the surest ways to get to him. "Summer before senior year," he said.

"Fuck!" Zeke said. "You've been gay for more than a year and you didn't tell us?"

"We shared a changing room! Didn't seem like a good idea to announce I like dick."

"Point." Zeke studied him curiously. "Does Troy know?"

Chad rubbed the back of his neck, a sure sign of nervousness. "No. Just when I was thinking of telling him, he started the whole eternal love, theatre is my passion stuff and fucked off to California."

"Dude," Zeke said around a mouthful, "you can talk to us. We're not gonna hate you for being gay."

Chad smiled shyly. "Thanks," he said, looking at Zeke from lowered eyelashes, brushing their legs together under the table.

Zeke's eyes started showing a bit too much white.

"Does freak you out, after all," Chad snorted, "relax, dude. You're not my type."

Zeke breathed out slowly. "Sorry. It's just…"

"Yeah, I know," Chad said. "Hey, do me a favour, don't spread this around. It's just not the sort of thing that sells well in professional basketball."

"Gotcha. So…are you gonna tell me anything about any boyfriend you've ever had?"

Chad grinned. "I've had all of three. Ryan, this guy I met at a gay bar and dated for all of two weeks, and…this guy I'm not really dating."

Zeke looked at him, question mark written all over his face in big, neon lighting.

"Fuckbuddy," Chad said.

Zeke pulled a face.

------

_Yo, Ryan,_

_I know, I know. I don't write letters. Heck, who does? It's weird. Just…didn't want to send an email, I guess._

_So here's the thing. I miss having you around. Like, I miss talking to you, and being around you, and…I just miss you._

_Out of the blue, I know, but in addition to being the guy I was having sex with, you were also the…guy I was with. You said, when you were here, that you wanted a serious relationship. _

_You were the most serious relationship I've ever had, and I think if we'd given it a chance in stead of just saying we were too young (which we kind of are, I know), we'd have made it. It's just, when I think of someone I want to spend time with, (if you ever say I wrote this, I'll hurt you) grow old with, it's a blond guy singing show tunes and wearing pink. _

_There you go. I miss you, and I'm wondering if maybe we called it quits too soon._

_Chad_

_P.S.: I broke up with my not-boyfriend. I was dreaming of you. With eyeliner._

_---------  
_

_Dear Chad,_

_------  
_

_Chad, I_

_------  
_

_I think you're right_

_-------  
_

_I think you're wrong_

_-------  
_

_FUCK_

_--------  
_

Troy and Gabriella came down to Albuquerque a few weeks before Christmas. They had a different vacation schedule, so when they came Chad was in his last class before winter break, and they snuck into the back of the room while Chad was holding a presentation in Poli-Sci, which nearly freaked him out.

Afterwards he walked to the back, high-fived Troy and gave him that dumb manly hug that never failed to ram someone's elbow into someone else's chest. He kissed Gabi on the cheek. The two of them were closer than ever, and he wondered idly if they'd finally moved all the way to second base.

Zeke, who was in the same class, moved over to greet them, and of course Chad had to yell, "WHAT TEAM?" for old times sake, despite the dirty look his roommate shot him when they yelled "WILDCATS!"

Sharpay joined them in the café they'd already liked in high school, but she was permanently glued to her cell phone, waiting for Ryan's text. "He'll be here any minute," she kept saying.

As if that didn't have Chad on his toes already, because Ryan had never written back to him, even though they'd continued emailing as if nothing had happened, Zeke kept sending him meaningful glances that read as, Come Out Now.

He had already wondered if Ryan had gotten the letter at all. He'd sent it off two weeks ago, and still, nothing. Zeke was so not helping his stress levels.

And then Ryan walked in, blonde, gorgeous. His sister ambushed him, as per usual. But his eyes met Chad's over her shoulder, under the cover of the hustle as the others greeted Kelsi.

Chad jerked his head towards the exit, and walked out while no one was watching him.

Ryan came out to find him leaning against the wall, staring at his sneakers. "So," Ryan said. "You wanna…go somewhere quieter?" he asked.

"God, yes," Chad answered.

They drove for a while in silence, just beyond the outskirts of the town. Chad stopped at an appropriately scenic view of desert.

"Nice," Ryan said.

"That all you're gonna say?" Chad asked. He was too keyed up to be polite, and a bit pissed off Ryan hadn't answered before.

"No," Ryan said, leaning back in his seat, eyes still stubbornly fixed on the desert.

Chad waited.

Ryan sighed. "I think it's nuts. I think we're definitely too young, and we live way too far apart, and we're too different."

Chad's face darkened, his shoulders hunched. He opened his mouth to answer, but Ryan held up a hand.

"I'm not done," he said. "It's nuts, but…I don't think I ever got over you, either."

Chad smiled up at him, the real smile Ryan realized he'd only ever seen before in that summer. "You're the one that I want," he sang, softly, a tiny bit off-key.

"Oh, shut up!" Ryan said, and kissed him before he could quote Grease again. Because really.

---------

"Where did Ryan and Chad go?" Troy asked.

"I wouldn't worry," Zeke said.

"Why?" Gabriella asked, giving him her innocent-little-girl look.

Zeke shrugged. "Not for me to tell. But one way or another, they'll probably have something to tell you."

------------

So, there ya go. I'm thinking of a possible sequel, but I need to know if it's worth it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **A Quiet Little Place

**Fandom/Pairing: **HSM, Chad/Ryan

**Rating: **PG, PG-13

**Disclaimer: **Belongs to Disney

**Summary: **The more people find out about Chad, the more ask whether he's told Troy. Chad doesn't really get it. Chad/Ryan, but predominately about Chad, and about Chad and Troy's relationship.

**Notes: **Sequel to my previous fic, Ways Undefined, and yes, I realize it took me a ridiculously long time. It makes me feel no better to say that an Enrique Iglesias song prompted me into finishing this. Also, the only reason it's finished is because I'm sick, which is also the only reason it's posted because it feels kinda dumb and crappy to me.

_From: _

_To: _

_Subject: Kelsi song_

_1 Attachment_

_Hey Chad_

_This is that song I told you about once. Kelsi wrote it a while back- she said it was basically thought out for you._

_And. Um. Me._

_Right. Moving on. We are not going to have a song. That's too quaint. _

_Anyway, back in NY, is gorgeous, blah, blah. Kelsi and I have started a new show together- drummed up all our friends to dance and sing. And no offence, but these guys are professionals. They so beat East High. How's Shakespeare going?_

_Ry_

"Stop whatever you're doing," Sharpay announced, flinging open the door to Chad's dorm room as if she owned the place.

"I could've been jerking off in here," Chad said mildly, clicking away Ryan's email.

"Ew, bad mental image," Sharpay winced, nose wrinkling.

"Aw, come on," Chad grinned. "You know you want a piece of this," he puffed out his chest and flexed his bicep.

She gave him a disgusted glare, which he took as a compliment because it translated into a blush and a giggle for any other girl. Then, she sat down on his bed, which was all kinds of invasive, but he was used to it by now.

"I'm in love," She announced.

"What?"

"In love."

Chad raised his eyebrow in silent question.

"I've been having these…thoughts about someone. And these dreams. And I never thought that was what I wanted, but it's like this dream I had last night opened my eyes."

Chad couldn't resist any longer. "In sleep he saaaang to me…" he wailed.

Sharpay hit him. "Passing over the fact that you know far too many musicals and that quoting them at me is so not funny, you're missing the point here!"

"Enlighten me. What's the point?"

"I'm in love. And I need your help to get him."

"I'm not shanghaiing anyone," Chad warned.

"I don't," Sharpay said with utmost dignity, "shanghai."

"No, you manipulate, which is just as bad, and when you're through and the victim realizes he's been manipulated, it'll feel like shanghaiing."

She stared at him a moment. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," she said disgustly.

Chad sighed, quietly waved goodbye to the email he'd wanted to write Ryan, and asked, "Okay, so who is it?"

"Zeke."

He looked at her a moment, wondering if there was a punch line missing somewhere. "I'm sorry," he said carefully. "Could you please repeat that?"

"I," she declared, with all the theatrical prowess she was capable of, "am in love with Zeke."

She was capable of a lot of theatrical prowess.

"Okay," Chad said. "Why do you need to talk to me about this?"

She stared at him. "I need a game plan. You do sports, you're good at those. What do I _do_?"

Chad snorted. "Just walk up to him and kiss him. He's been in love with you since sophomore year."

"You are so…" she searched for the right word. He had to assume she hadn't found it, since the one she used was "useless," and that was a bit insulting.

"Oh, come on," he said. "You don't need to find out if he likes you, you know that already, you don't need to seduce him because he'd jump at a chance at you. All you need to do is tell him you want him."

She bit her lip.

"What?"

"Well…" She sighed, lying back against his pillow. "It's kind of classless. I feel like I'd be using him. Making him wait for me and expecting him to just snap at the chance."

"Who're we talking about?" Zeke asked as he walked in.

Sharpay squeaked and sat up really, really fast.

Chad sighed to himself. He'd actually wanted to call Ryan.

"No one!" Sharpay said.

Zeke studied her for a long moment. Then he shrugged. "Okay. So anyway, I was wondering what you guys are doing tonight. My mom gave me these two movies she said were great and I don't feel like watching them alone…"

Perhaps Chad was feeling particularly morbid today. "Science fiction double feature?" he grinned. Really, he didn't know why he did it himself.

"ARGH! Sharpay yelled. "WHY do you ALWAYS do that? Why do you even know so freakishly many musicals?"

"He grew up with Michael Crawford in his fridge," Zeke said. "We think that's where it started."

Sharpay stared pointedly out the window for a moment, then carefully said, "Yeah, I'm up for a movie night. I am, however, going to ignore that piece of utterly strange information."

Chad grinned to himself. "Nah," he said. "I'm out. Promised I'd go to my mom's for dinner."

"Kay," Zeke shrugged nonchalantly, which Chad congratulated him on, because he knew the guy well enough to know he was jumping up and down screaming "SCORE!" on the inside. "So I'll see you at seven?" He asked Sharpay.

She nodded, and he left.

Chad was just about to reopen Ryan's email when he realized she was still sitting there. He looked up, questioning.

"What do I wear?" She asked.

Chad groaned.

"No, seriously, what do I wear?"

Chad spun around on the chair to face her, glancing her over. "Wear heels," he said.

"Why?"

"It'll put you closer to his level and make kissing more of a possibility. Also, Zeke has a thing for heels."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Said he likes the noise they make."

"Okay," Sharpay said. "I can work with that. Anything else?"

Chad considered. "Well, you'll want to wear a skirt, since that'll show off the legs-attached-to-feet-attached-to-heels best, which means you need to shave your legs and narrows down your choice on shoes to the ones that match a good skirt."

"Oh, my god!" Sharpay said, pointing and gasping in a way that made Chad supremely uncomfortable. "You're gay!"

Chad felt his ears start to heat up. "Um." He said.

Her eyes widened. "You are! Oh. My. God. Chad Danforth, basketball star, is gay?"

"Rub it in a little more," he said dryly. "Yell it loud enough for my jock roommates to hear."

"Oh, my, god." She said again, face entirely too gleeful. "Does Troy know this?"

"No," Chad said in a tiny, tiny voice.

She pursed her lips, said nothing and proceeded to make him help her pick her outfit out for three hours.

It was seven by the time Chad finally had the time to call Ryan.

-

Ryan and Chad had been dating again for two months when Chad finally called Taylor. It was a good thing the Evans had a private jet or they'd hardly ever have seen each other and would have had to live off e-mails and phone sex.

The conversation was strained and awkward, to say the least. It went a bit like this:

TAYLOR: Hi, this is Taylor McKessie.

CHAD: Hey, Tay. How's it goin'?

TAYLOR: …Chad? Um. It's, uh…it's going fine. Good. Everythings…okay. You?

CHAD: Oh, yeah, sure, great, U of A and all.

TAYLOR: Um. So. I hear you've been hanging with Sharpay?

CHAD: Yeah, she's not all bad once you get used to the…

TAYLOR: Sharpayness?

CHAD: That's the word.

(Pause)

CHAD: So…you have a boyfriend?

TAYLOR: Yes, actually. He-

CHAD: Ohthankgod.

TAYLOR: What does that mean?

CHAD: Nothing, just…glad, I guess. I was afraid I'd put you off dating forever.

TAYLOR: The last pitiful attempt at dating we made was almost a year ago. Why the sudden concern?

CHAD: Uh. Well, there's some stuff I didn't tell you that I should have, and I'm doing it now.

TAYLOR: Shoot.

CHAD: Okay. Uh. Before I start, you know this is an overdue apology, right?

TAYLOR: I figured.

CHAD: Okay. I did really like you, you know. You were smart and pretty and had a great rack-

TAYLOR: Chad!

CHAD: Trust me. I'm not trying to make things worse. Anyway, Troy was making us all be friends and accept each other and stuff, and that put up some issues for me. So Troy and Gabriella had their thing and I've always done whatever he does and I liked you. So I asked you out and we went out and it kind of sucked.

TAYLOR: I'm with you.

CHAD: Thanks. So we went out, and then we kissed and that pretty much sucked too, and I didn't stop flirting with you and I didn't ask you out again. And- here's the part where you can start hating me. I used you. Everyone thought we were together, high school romance, that that meant I support tolerance and stuff since we were from way different social circles, and it meant they never thought to question- me.

TAYLOR: O…kay…

CHAD: I did like spending time with you. You helped me out with school stuff and kept me from being too cynical about Troy. I really really liked you. Except…

TAYLOR: Except?

CHAD: Except always platonically.

TAYLOR: I figured.

CHAD: Yeah, I guess the never trying to get at your bra thing was a tip-off.

TAYLOR: (giggle) Yeah, that's it.

CHAD: So since I kind of strung you along, I figure you deserve to know why, and how much it was completely, totally and in all other ways not your fault.

TAYLOR: Uh-huh.

CHAD: Okay. Here goes. You were not the only person I was seeing in high school.

TAYLOR: Um.

CHAD: Please, don't hang up on me. Maybe if I get through this you won't think I'm such a jerk?

TAYLOR (coldly): Go ahead.

CHAD: Okay, summer before senior year, I had a thing with this…anyway. And once during senior year too, for like two weeks. You were…Christ, Tay, I'm so sorry. You were my alibi girlfriend. I'm…oh, my god. This is worse than with my mother. Taylor, I'm gay.

TAYLOR: Uh. Oh. …huh. Um. Does Troy know?

CHAD: …okay, why does everyone keep asking me that?

TAYLOR: Um. I don't know why anyone else would have asked that, but I asked it because my first thought was you and…Troy.

CHAD: No. Ew. Really. Ick. Dude, that's like…incest.

TAYLOR: Okay.

CHAD: No, seriously. Ew. Don't make me come over there and wash your mouth out with bleach.

TAYLOR (giggle): Okay. Chad, thank you for telling me. It means a lot to me that you told me, and…I do forgive you for the stuff you pulled.

CHAD: Well, that means a lot to me. I…I was going through a lot then, and you were the best fake girlfriend a guy could've asked for.

TAYLOR: Friends?

CHAD: Definitely.

-

Things came to a head during spring break. After much cajoling from all sides, Ryan and Sharpay invited their whole group to their Florida vacation house (which, Chad said, was just a given. Of course they owned a villa in Florida).

It was weird, now. They were all there- Sharpay and Ryan, Chad, Zeke, Kelsi, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Jason, Martha…all of them. But they'd grown apart in the almost-year they'd been separated.

Sharpay and Zeke were all over each other, sharing a bedroom and making out publicly. To those of the group who hadn't known, it was kind of a shock. To those who knew it was just kind of sickening.

Troy and Gabriella were too, but that was no surprise. The surprise was that Troy invited himself into Chad's room (which was also Ryan's, but Troy didn't know that) and sat down on the very very edge of his bed.

"I slept with Gabi," he blurted.

Chad turned round, studied him, and said, "Huh." He turned his head to the side as if that would help him discover a visual sign of Troy's lack of virginity. "Congratulations?"

Troy grinned. "Thanks," he said, and it was a little bit strange that he actually took that seriously.

He shifted around uncomfortably for a few minutes while Chad unpacked, and then said at length, "So, have you ever…?"

_Seriously?_ Chad thought. It must have read on his face, because Troy flushed bright red. "Uh, yeah, dude."

"You never told me," Troy said, and sounded kind of insulted. Well, there was a lot Chad hadn't told him.

"Didn't know our friendship worked like that," Chad said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Y'know. Chick flick stuff. Secrets and sex and stuff."

Troy crossed his arms and shifted on Chad's bed, taking up more space and wordlessly stating his intent not to leave until he wanted to. "It totally does. So gone on, who was it with? Taylor? And when?"

Deciding to ignore the sheer idiocy of the first two questions, Chad said, "Summer before senior year."

"What?? Seriously?" Troy squeaked, sounding insulted. Seriously, Chad hadn't thought he'd actually care, seeing as relationship crap had always been Troy's thing and the he was more Troy's wingman, his basketball buddy, who connected with him in male, brotherly ways.

"What's going on here?" Ryan asked as he came in.

"Summer BEFORE senior year?" Troy asked.

Chad shook his head at Ryan frantically. "Ooh," Ryan said with a little too much interest. "That was a good summer."

"Oh yeah?" Chad said, momentarily forgetting the fact that he was trying to salvage two years worth of lying to his best friend.

"Yeah," Ryan grinned at him. "Lost my virginity."

Troy's eyes went wide like a cartoon character's. "Wha- bu- Oh. Oh my god."

Chad buried his face in his hands.

"What?" Ryan asked. "What'd I say?"

"Train wreck," Chad mumbled, "carnage everywhere. I was trying to do this slowly."

"So wait," Troy said, "you've been gay for more than a year and a half and you didn't _tell _me?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"Why not?"

Chad sighed. "Honestly, I thought you'd be a jerk about it."

"What?!" Troy exploded, standing up.

"Not like that," Chad said impatiently. "I just thought you'd be…well, you, dude. You'd get in my face about it, be so supportive it makes people sick. It'd suddenly be about how Troy the musical star was helping his poor gay friend, and I don't want that. It's not a big deal and I don't want it turned into one."

"But it's a huge deal!" Troy said. "It means you- you-"

"It means I don't slot neatly into the heteronormative way of life. I'm cool with that."

"What?" Troy said. "Seriously, what, dude? Since when do you talk like that?"

"Since always!" Chad said. "It's why I'm majoring in English as well as sports!"

"What?" Troy asked angrily. "Do you not tell me anything anymore? I thought we were, like, brothers!"

"We are, Troy. But you don't get it half the time. You don't get that I know a lot about musicals, and you never bothered to ask me when you started your musical thing even though I could have told you so much about them. You never once realized how much I like English classes, and you never asked what other courses I was taking in college even when we planned to go together. You ditched me all the time over the summer before senior year, and I would have needed you like you wouldn't believe because I was in the process of realizing I was gay, but you weren't there so I had to figure it out on my own and I never told you." Chad slowed to a halt in his speech, looked Troy over. He'd wilted a bit since his earlier outrage. "You're my brother, Troy, and I love ya, but you've spent way too long disappointing me for you to be upset about this."

Troy nodded slowly. "Okay," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Chad said, attempting to speak past the lump in his throat.

"I think it'd be best if you left now," Ryan said to Troy, all but pushing him out of the door. Then, he turned to Chad, who was inches from breakdown.

"Hey," he said. "Come here." And Chad did, and one of the best things about having a boyfriend was that you could have a breakdown in his arms.

-

"Okay," Troy said, coming into the living room, where everyone was watching Grey's Anatomy for no apparent reason. "I may not be supposed to say this, but apparently since he told me it's all out now- did anyone here know Chad's gay?"

Zeke raised a hand, and both Sharpay and Taylor said, "yes, why?" Kelsi nodded, still watching the screen avidly.

Troy sat down hard. "He told you guys before he told me?"

"I guessed," Zeke said absently, his eyes on the TV screen, his hands massaging Sharpay's feet.

She nodded around her forkful of a cake he'd baked her. "Me too," she said.

Kelsi said, "me three," absently, apparently unconcerned by this new development.

Gabriella, Martha and Jason, however, were listening with rapt attention, baffled looks on their faces.

"He told me," Taylor said, apparently not finding the show as fascinating as the others who knew.

"When?" Troy asked.

"A few weeks ago. He just called up out of the blue, apologized for being a jerk to me while we were still dating and said I deserved an explanation."

"Okay," Troy said. "I still don't get why he didn't tell me."

Taylor bit her lip in indecision, before deciding that when it came down to it he was still kind of a jock. "This may sound stupid, but did you ask?"

"Of course I did! He said some stuff about me making a big deal out of it, and about not knowing him."

Zeke finally tore his eyes off the screen. "Let's face it, dude, you hardly do anymore."

Troy's face spoke epic poems of confusion.

"You never understood the thing with the English major, or the thing with the musicals-"

"God, is that ever annoying," Sharpay said. "Michael Crawford is one thing, but he actually sang RENT at me recently. It's like he's seen every musical ever produced."

"Okay," Troy said, "So I don't know everything about him. So what? He should have at least told me about the Ryan thing."

That stopped all watching of Grey's Anatomy dead.

Heads spun. Eyes widened.

"I knew it!" Zeke crowed. "He never would say, but I knew they'd gotten back together."

"Back?!" Sharpay almost-shrieked, "there was a before?"

"Summer before senior year," Zeke and Troy said at the same time.

"Oh," Taylor said, with a tone of enlightenment.

Sharpay sat up fully, taking her feet off of Zeke's lap. "I think we need more information. They're together now?"

"Yeah," Troy said. "Ryan kicked me out after Chad said all that stuff about not wanting to tell me he's gay."

She smiled smugly. "Good thing our intercom system can be rigged."

-

If there was one thing Ryan had learned in all his years as a gay theatre geek, it was how to create an ambiance. He'd drawn the blinds and set the lighting low in his room, and ensconced Chad on a strategically placed mound of sinfully comfortable pillows with a glass of tequila from the minibar he'd installed the last time his mother lent him her credit card.

They were quiet for a long time, just sitting, pressed together, sipping alcohol.

"Never really thought about telling him," Chad said.

Ryan looked at him questioningly.

"I mean, everyone kept asking if I'd told him yet and it just didn't make sense to me. I mean…Troy's the playmaker. It's about him. Not supposed to be about me."

"What do you expect?" Ryan asked gently. "He's your friend, he cares about you."

"I guess," Chad said. "But it's been about him for so long. Plus what I said before."

"The thing about the heteronormative lifestyle?"

Chad exhaled a laugh, of sorts. "That's the one."

"You know our friends. They're all…shockingly hetero everything."

"I know." Chad sighed, leaning his head against Ryan's. "I mean, they sing in musicals, they bake, they write sheet music and they're the biggest bunch of drama queens this side of Broadway and yet they are all stubbornly straight. It's…dude, it's weird."

"Don't think I haven't noticed," Ryan answered, voice light and teasing despite the weight they both felt.

Chad turned his head a fraction of an inch to meet Ryan's lips with his, and for a while all that could be hear was the wet sound of tongues and lips connecting.

They separated with no more noise than a soft sigh.

"So I guess I'll have to introduce you to my mother," Chad said.

"Don't sound so thrilled about it. Otherwise I'll go down there and tell Sharpay."

Chad fake-shuddered. "The horror, the pain."

Ryan snorted.

"Okay," Chad said. "That's enough bad stuff. This is our first day of vacation, isn't it?"

"Yep," Ryan said. "What are we gonna do about it?"

"Well…" Chad got up, stretched, walked across the room he had yet to explore properly. "Hey! You've got, like, a band without the players over here!"

Ryan snickered. "Yeah, I like music. Tell me you're not surprised. I may have to reevaluate our relationship."

"Oh, shut up," Chad said, picking up a guitar. "Can I?"

"Sure," Ryan said.

Chad sat down on the bed, ran his hands over the guitar, played a few chords. "Sing for me," he said quietly, after a while, and began to play a familiar melody.

And Ryan couldn't help but smile, because it was cute, and not like the cheesy musical quoting, but really cute, cute.

"_I know I stand in line until you think you have the time to spend an evening with me," _he sang, and, smiling at Chad, sat down next to him on the bed. Chad grinned at him, and he looked so much like a little boy that Ryan fell just a little bit more in love with him.

And when he joined the song, his voice wasn't quite as good as Ryan's, but hey, Nancy Sinatra hadn't seemed bothered by that.

Anyway, it didn't take too long before they lay aside the guitar and looked into other activities to do with love.

-

Sharpay shut off the intercom about halfway through the song. It didn't seem right, even by her loose moral standards, to listen to any more.

"I think," Troy said, frowning, "I understand it a little bit now."

Privately, she wondered if he ever really would.


End file.
